Friday, May 15, 2009

A Jerome Discovery (Part 4)


Continuing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) analysis from the pages of The Literary Digest from over a century ago...

Be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 as well.

From the July 14, 1900 issue of The Literary Digest [descriptive notation changed to algebraic notation]:

The Jerome Gambit

Consultation Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4

Mr Jerome writes: "Your move (...Qh4) is undoubtedly the best, as it puts White on the defensive at once," and suggests as White's 7th 0-0.

F.H. Johnston believes that White's best (7th) is Nc3, "thus defending the e-pawn. It would not be sound to play 0-0 at this stage, neither would it do to play dxc5." Nc3 is dangerous on account of ...Ng4 forcing White to defend his f-pawn, and preventing him from castling.

The best continuation seems to be: 7.0-0, Ng4; 8.h3, Bd6 9.e5, etc.

No comments: